Doug Jones On The Lucky Coincidence That Allowed Him To Reprise Billy The Zombie In Hocus Pocus 2 - Exclusive

It's one thing to do a sequel decades after the original came out. It's another thing entirely to get a good chunk of the original cast to come back to reprise their characters. 

Part of what made the original "Hocus Pocus" so special back in 1993 was the incredible performances of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters. Additionally, Doug Jones brought his unique flair to the role of Billy Butcherson, the zombie. Fortunately, all four of these actors returned for "Hocus Pocus 2" to bring about another two hours of spooky shenanigans. No doubt it was nice for fans to see these actors once again, even if not every member of the original cast returned.

Jones is particularly busy these days, as some of his recent credits include roles on TV series like "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Star Trek: Discovery." Fortunately, neither of those commitments prevented him from returning as Billy Butcherson, and even luckier than that, filming for "Hocus Pocus 2" came at precisely the right time to allow Jones to step into those zombie shoes once again. Jones mentioned as much in an exclusive interview with Looper. 

Doug Jones certainly keeps busy these days. His acting résumé consists of over 170 credits (via IMDb), and it's only getting longer. Suffice it to say, it was a major get to have Jones in "Hocus Pocus 2" as Billy, and as Jones told Looper, it was a fortunate roll of the dice. 

"I was relieved as well because I'm working on 'Star Trek: Discovery,' [which] takes up most of my time in these past five years," he said. "When I heard [the 'Hocus Pocus 2'] film schedule was going to fit right into my hiatus between seasons of 'Star Trek,' it's like, 'Ah, nothing overlaps, didn't have to finagle anything. Thank heaven.' So it was a win-win all around."

Granted, it's possible that Jones could've made his "Hocus Pocus 2" appearance happen even if it did cross over with some of his work on "Star Trek" as well. But the fact that everything fell into place so effortlessly certainly makes it seem like Jones' reprisal was meant to be. Plus, it means "Star Trek" fans don't have to worry about Jones mysteriously vanishing for any length of time on Season 5 of "Star Trek: Discovery," which is set to come out sometime in 2023. 

"Hocus Pocus 2" is available now for streaming on Disney+.